Mechanisms for Social Empowerment of Iraqi Youth: Social Entrepreneurship as a Model

Abstract

                                                    Social entrepreneurship is the pursuit of achieving tangible social change by creating innovative and sustainable solutions to problems from which society suffers through innovative projects and businesses, encouraging ambitious ideas and the spirit of initiative that lead to the development of societies and the creation of qualified generations by enabling them to exploit the opportunities available to them with their creativity and innovation; qualifying them and directing them to work on private projects instead of heading to work in the public sector thereby reducing the burden on the government in providing job opportunities and diversifying sources of national income, especially in small and medium enterprises. The research problem revolves around the possibility of adopting social entrepreneurship as a tributary to empower Iraqi youth socially by building social awareness of youth and developing skills; in addition to changing perceptions of youth as positive agents of change, instead of being a problem that must be solved. Iraqi youth have achieved many innovations that can be invested and supported, which will lead to supporting the services sector, which today represents no less than 34% of the size of the Iraqi non-oil economy. So that this sector will be the backbone for achieving a diversified and sustainable economy. However, despite the progress achieved, social entrepreneurship in Iraq is still in its early stages, with many challenges and obstacles to overcome